Turkish TPAO signs loan agreement to buy stake in Shah Deniz project

Turkish TPAO signed on Aug. 21 an agreement with Turkey's Vakifbank and Turkiye Is Bankasi for a $1 billion loan to increase stake in the project on development of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz gas and condensate field, Anadolu news agency said.

The loan agreement, signed in Ankara, will provide funding for TPAO's acquisition of an additional 10 percent in the Shah Deniz project.

"Profits from these projects in the past year stood at $265 million. We plan to double this amount in 2014-2015 [by means of increasing stakes in these projects]," the minister said.

In May 2004, TPAO and Total Azerbaijan inked a contract on the purchase of Total's 10-percent stake in the Shah Deniz project. Under the contract, TPAO's share in the project will increase to 19 percent.

The contract on development of the Shah Deniz offshore field, which has proven reserves of 1.2 trillion cubic meters of gas, was signed on June 4, 1996.